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Post by wildfire2099 on May 11, 2015 20:03:18 GMT -5
I really enjoyed Amazing High Adventure .. great mix of talent (almost all of it great), and a great variety of different eras... it goes from Napoleon to Ghenghis Khan to the Wild West and back again.. great idea for an anthology title...too bad it only lasted 5 issues. (i'll have to get that last one some time)
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 15, 2015 8:27:37 GMT -5
Warlord #102-104
This is a first read for this title for me. 102 was pretty good, but I enjoyed the story as it progressed more in 103 and 104. The art was the best in 102 to me, with Pablo Marcos doing the inks on Jerry Bingham. Marcos may be the reason it seemed to shine to me, as I enjoyed the work in the horror titles I have like Dracula Lives, Monsters Unleashed and Tales of the Zombie. I want to say he did a few stories in HOS and HOM? Anywway, I liked 103 and 104. I think I might delve into those $1 at the shop for a few more issues and see how I like them. I am not a real huge reader of sword and sorcery, but these three issues were pretty good. Not knowing the character or back story, it's an interesting mix of things. He seems to be from modern times, he understands space travel (I think that's what he was talking about in a thought balloon) and he has an automatic handgun, so he's not from that time, or that planet, if that's what it is and not Earth's barbarian times. Either way, I enjoyed enough that yeah I think I'll get some more. I definitely want to get #98 and #99, as the art is Andy Kubert and Pablo Marcos. I didn't know Andy was doing art that long ago. He got his big fame in the 90's where I first saw his work. It'll be interesting to see what the two of them put together in those books.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on May 15, 2015 11:41:30 GMT -5
Warlord #102-104 This is a first read for this title for me. 102 was pretty good, but I enjoyed the story as it progressed more in 103 and 104. The art was the best in 102 to me, with Pablo Marcos doing the inks on Jerry Bingham. Marcos may be the reason it seemed to shine to me, as I enjoyed the work in the horror titles I have like Dracula Lives, Monsters Unleashed and Tales of the Zombie. I want to say he did a few stories in HOS and HOM? Anywway, I liked 103 and 104. I think I might delve into those $1 at the shop for a few more issues and see how I like them. I am not a real huge reader of sword and sorcery, but these three issues were pretty good. Not knowing the character or back story, it's an interesting mix of things. He seems to be from modern times, he understands space travel (I think that's what he was talking about in a thought balloon) and he has an automatic handgun, so he's not from that time, or that planet, if that's what it is and not Earth's barbarian times. Either way, I enjoyed enough that yeah I think I'll get some more. I definitely want to get #98 and #99, as the art is Andy Kubert and Pablo Marcos. I didn't know Andy was doing art that long ago. He got his big fame in the 90's where I first saw his work. It'll be interesting to see what the two of them put together in those books. Travis Morgan is from modern times. He was an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War. While flying an SR-71 Blackbird over the Arctic Circle, his plane crashed. However, instead of hitting the ground, it passed through a hidden portal to a magic land hidden inside the Earth - Skartaris. In Skartaris, there's magic, time flows differently, and there's all sorts of crazy beasts and weird societies all jumbled up, including dinosaurs, dragons, ninjas, and the remnants of an ancient society that had incredibly advanced science. The series is definitely influenced by Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter, Warlord of Mars series - it's like John Carter meets Conan. Later, some minor tweaks were made to this basic setup - instead of the Journey to the Center of the Earth premise, where Skartaris was literally hidden beneath the Earth, it was changed to another dimension. The ancient technologically advanced society turned out to be Atlantis, and its history was explored in the series Arion, Lord of Atlantis. But since they had already established that time passes differently in Skartaris, Travis is one of the few characters who did not get a sliding time scale; his origin remained set in the Vietnam War, he just ages slower than people on Earth because of the weird passage of time. The issues you read are near the beginning of a long storyline, though not as long as the one that preceded it. Though there are all sorts of side trips and diversions, #73-100 (plus a couple annuals) essentially form one long epic (so the issues you mentioned wanting to get, #98 and #99, are the climax of a huge story with years of setup). At the end of the story, Warlord's daughter Jennifer, who is basically the sorcerer supreme of Skartaris, is aged to the point of death by a magic curse. #101-116 detail Warlord's quest to find a cure.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 15, 2015 13:41:51 GMT -5
Thanks for all the information Scott. I don't remember what other issues the store had in their dollar bin, but I am going to go back and see. I'd like to be able to continue the story from where I am at now some more and see how I like it before I go back. Getting the Kubert issues is more curiosity on how his art looked, if different at all, then compared to the 90's.
Also in one of the issues I was reading, I do remember him saying to a person that was trying to direct him through a safer route then he was planning to take, thinking to himself that was 10 days longer and in that time it could mean Jennifer's death. So I didn't know what that was all about but it was part of why I'd like to read some more.
Thanks again Scott
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2015 14:09:36 GMT -5
Warlord #102-104 This is a first read for this title for me. 102 was pretty good, but I enjoyed the story as it progressed more in 103 and 104. The art was the best in 102 to me, with Pablo Marcos doing the inks on Jerry Bingham. Marcos may be the reason it seemed to shine to me, as I enjoyed the work in the horror titles I have like Dracula Lives, Monsters Unleashed and Tales of the Zombie. I want to say he did a few stories in HOS and HOM? Anywway, I liked 103 and 104. I think I might delve into those $1 at the shop for a few more issues and see how I like them. I am not a real huge reader of sword and sorcery, but these three issues were pretty good. Not knowing the character or back story, it's an interesting mix of things. He seems to be from modern times, he understands space travel (I think that's what he was talking about in a thought balloon) and he has an automatic handgun, so he's not from that time, or that planet, if that's what it is and not Earth's barbarian times. Either way, I enjoyed enough that yeah I think I'll get some more. I definitely want to get #98 and #99, as the art is Andy Kubert and Pablo Marcos. I didn't know Andy was doing art that long ago. He got his big fame in the 90's where I first saw his work. It'll be interesting to see what the two of them put together in those books. Travis Morgan is from modern times. He was an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War. While flying an SR-71 Blackbird over the Arctic Circle, his plane crashed. However, instead of hitting the ground, it passed through a hidden portal to a magic land hidden inside the Earth - Skartaris. In Skartaris, there's magic, time flows differently, and there's all sorts of crazy beasts and weird societies all jumbled up, including dinosaurs, dragons, ninjas, and the remnants of an ancient society that had incredibly advanced science. The series is definitely influenced by Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter, Warlord of Mars series - it's like John Carter meets Conan. Later, some minor tweaks were made to this basic setup - instead of the Journey to the Center of the Earth premise, where Skartaris was literally hidden beneath the Earth, it was changed to another dimension. The ancient technologically advanced society turned out to be Atlantis, and its history was explored in the series Arion, Lord of Atlantis. But since they had already established that time passes differently in Skartaris, Travis is one of the few characters who did not get a sliding time scale; his origin remained set in the Vietnam War, he just ages slower than people on Earth because of the weird passage of time. The issues you read are near the beginning of a long storyline, though not as long as the one that preceded it. Though there are all sorts of side trips and diversions, #73-100 (plus a couple annuals) essentially form one long epic (so the issues you mentioned wanting to get, #98 and #99, are the climax of a huge story with years of setup). At the end of the story, Warlord's daughter Jennifer, who is basically the sorcerer supreme of Skartaris, is aged to the point of death by a magic curse. #101-116 detail Warlord's quest to find a cure. My only quibble with Scott's description is that I see the Burroughs influence coming from the Pellucidar books, not the John Carter books The Atlantis as ancient civilization of Skartaris was there almost from the start of the Grell run too (I'm reading the run from the beginning-am up to #20-and Atlantis was mentioned as early as issue 4 or 5 I believe when Morgan stumbled across some advanced tech), and was definitely established by the time he finds Tara again in Shamballah which was an Atlantean refuge after it's destruction. While marketed as a sword and sorcery book to capitalize on the genre's 70's popularity, Scott hits it when he mentions John Carter though, because the book has a lot more the feel of a planetary romance than traditional sword & sorcery. -M
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 15, 2015 14:23:40 GMT -5
How is the Grell story compare to Fleisher's as goes the sword and sorcery aspect? Or really in any different aspects? Do they come off as two completely different versions of Morgan and Skartaris? It seems they are mainly the only two that wrote the whole series.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on May 15, 2015 14:28:50 GMT -5
How is the Grell story compare to Fleisher's as goes the sword and sorcery aspect? Or really in any different aspects? Do they come off as two completely different versions of Morgan and Skartaris? It seems they are mainly the only two that wrote the whole series. It looks that way if you read the credits, but the credits lie. Mike Grell's wife at the time, Sharon Grell, actually ghost wrote the book for quite a while, but Mike Grell was still listed as writer in the credits. I don't know exactly when she took over, but she wrote it for a couple years at least - from sometime in the #40's through the early #70's. For me personally, her issues are the best.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 17, 2015 11:49:44 GMT -5
As I'm cataloging my books I came across Dark Horse Presents Aliens that have five shorts in it. In one called Reapers by Arcudi and Bisley, these huge hulking species come across the aliens. They're kinda like Abomination with bigger teeth. Anyway they encounter warriors and a "rouge" male or queen (not sure, the story has no dialogue) fight, some die. Then they come to an egg chamber and one of the reapers picks up an egg and the facehugger flies out at him and the reaper chomps him like an insect. In the last panel there's a market on their home planet, I'd imagine, where they come from and their selling the eggs for food. I thought it was quite amusing. I like the occasional quirky alien story. They don't all have to be horrific.
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Post by Hoosier X on May 17, 2015 16:38:21 GMT -5
I got Marvel Masterworks: Thor, Volume Five, from the library and I'm actually kind of excited about it. This is must-read Thor! I've only read a few of these issues (from 1970s reprints) but I love what little I've read. This volume reprints Thor #131 to #140, and it starts with the Colonizers and Ego, the Living Planet, proceeds to the first appearance of the High Evolutionary, and also includes Ulik and Kang and I don't know what-all.
Also, Tales of Asgard.
Lately, I've been imaging the voices for the characters as I read - in The Forever People, Patrick Warburton (Brock Sampson on The Venture Brothers) is great as Big Bear, and I also like H. Jon Benjamin (Archer) as Mister Miracle and Aisha Taylor (Lana Kane on Archer) as Big Barda. Also, the voice of the Monarch (from The Venture Brothers) is great for Mantis - and I found some really good voices for Thor.
Patrick Warburton IS the Marvel version of Hercules. (It's a pity he's not in this volume much.) And Orson Welles is great as Odin. I've been using H. Jon Benjamin as Thor, and it's kind of fun, but I think he's be better as Loki.
Most perfect of all is the voice of Judy Greer (she's Cheryl/Carol on Archer) as Tana Nile, the Colonizer from Rigel! Tana Nile is hilarious anyway. She's the one who lands on Earth and registers her claim with the main office on Rigel and then says she's empress of Earth! Geez Louise! I love the sequence where she's talking to the cop and explaining that she's now ruler of Earth and the cop thinks she's crazy and is humoring her. ("Sure, lady, sure. Whatever you say. You want I should take you to my leader?" And she says: "That is a good idea! I shall make you my official royal chauffer!")
It is especially hilarious with Judy Greer's voice!
I started using H. Jon Benjamin with the Recorder, and that works really well. I'm still trying to decide on voices for Thor and Jane Foster. Later I'm thinking Rashida Jones for Jane Foster and maybe Chris Pratt for Thor.
(You know who else is good for Fourth World? Aziz Ansari for Serifan. And I was also using Bette Davis for the landlady and the voice of Dr. Orpheus for Deadman.)
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 18, 2015 11:03:38 GMT -5
Warlord #51, 90, 96 #51 was a reprint of the first issue, so it was nice to get a origin story of how Morgan got there, even though Scott gave me a synopsis of it earlier in his post. #90 had some fabulous art by Rich Buckler. Have I not seen his art before? Wow, really beautiful job on the landscape and characters. Now him doing some sword and sorcery I could look at all day. The story was a good one, if out of context for me, as to what is going on. It seems a war/battle is coming and everyone is preparing in their own way. But damn it looks good. Edit: I forgot this issue also has a Mark Jeweler advertisement in it (right in the middle of my two page Morgan vs Dimetrodon splash ). Is this what makes it a Mark Jeweler edition that I often see a separate listing for in Lone Star and Mile High Comics? #93 continues the story of the preparation for the battle against the Atlantians introducing me to more characters that I didn't know from reading #102-105 earlier. The art is not near as good as Buckler's but not bad. The deceit of General Sabertooth and his witch will probably set up for a good story for next issue that I don't have. This issue also makes a lot of references to Annual #4, which I thankfully have, hinting that the boy Hinder, which I first have seen in this issue, by some chance could be Morgan's son. That might be interesting to see how that plays out. Maybe I will find out by reading Annual #4. Either way after that, I have #105-115 to read next.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on May 18, 2015 12:12:57 GMT -5
This issue also makes a lot of references to Annual #4, which I thankfully have, hinting that the boy Tinder, which I first have seen in this issue, by some chance could be Morgan's son. That might be interesting to see how that plays out. Okay, so this does not contain any actual spoilers on how this plot plays out, but I am going to put it in spoiler tags anyway. Let's just say that... the story of Tinder begins in Warlord #15, which had a cover date of November, 1978. It continues as a major subplot throughout the entire series, and also throughout every subsequent Warlord revival, before finally being resolved in Warlord volume 4 #12, which has a cover date of May, 2010.
So, yes, it definitely is interesting to see how it plays out. It's probably more enjoyable if you don't spend 32 years wondering if they're ever going to resolve it!
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on May 18, 2015 12:20:16 GMT -5
#90 had some fabulous art by Rich Buckler. Have I not seen his art before? Wow, really beautiful job on the landscape and characters. Now him doing some sword and sorcery I could look at all day. The story was a good one, if out of context for me, as to what is going on. It seems a war/battle is coming and everyone is preparing in their own way. But damn it looks good. Edit: I forgot this issue also has a Mark Jeweler advertisement in it (right in the middle of my two page Morgan vs Dimetrodon splash ). Is this what makes it a Mark Jeweler edition that I often see a separate listing for in Lone Star and Mile High Comics? Yep, that's it. The Mark Jeweler's insert was supposedly only included in copies sold on military bases, which is why they are much rarer than regular copies, and often are low grade. So I've been told, anyway. Warlord #90 was my first issue of the series. It's also a very important comic for me, as it essentially began my comic reading and collecting life. It's a bit of a story, but in short, my parents were in a bowling league, so to give me something to do while they bowled, they let me buy a couple comics, which were Blackhawk #269 and #270. The league ended, so I didn't get any more comics. But several months later, a new season started, so we went back. By then, Blackhawk had been cancelled, so when I went to get more comics, I picked out Warlord #90 and Thor #351. From that point, I was a monthly comics reader. I got my copy of Warlord #90 signed by Rich Buckler a couple years ago a a con (along with #96, which has a great cover):
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 18, 2015 12:35:27 GMT -5
This issue also makes a lot of references to Annual #4, which I thankfully have, hinting that the boy Tinder, which I first have seen in this issue, by some chance could be Morgan's son. That might be interesting to see how that plays out. Okay, so this does not contain any actual spoilers on how this plot plays out, but I am going to put it in spoiler tags anyway. Let's just say that... the story of Tinder begins in Warlord #15, which had a cover date of November, 1978. It continues as a major subplot throughout the entire series, and also throughout every subsequent Warlord revival, before finally being resolved in Warlord volume 4 #12, which has a cover date of May, 2010.
So, yes, it definitely is interesting to see how it plays out. It's probably more enjoyable if you don't spend 32 years wondering if they're ever going to resolve it! Wow and I thought waiting almost ten years for the end of and final issue to Ghost Rider Vol. 2 was a long wait. Thanks for all the information on this series Scott. I think I am going to enjoy it.
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Post by berkley on May 18, 2015 20:44:25 GMT -5
Tintin: Les cigares du pharaon
My second Tintin after reading Le Lotus bleu last year or the year before, though Cigares is actually the earlier installment of the two, coming immediately before Lotus in the series. It was a lot of fun, and of course Hergé's ligne clair artwork is a joy to behold. I would say that Cigares felt a little more comical and perhaps less intricately plotted than Lotus, or my memory of it, at least. Still full of incident, intrigue, and excitement - the Tintin books read like adventure movies of the most enjoyable kind.
My next Tintin will probably be L'ile Noir, but there are a few other things, classics and more recent books, I plan to read before getting to that one.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 19, 2015 8:04:37 GMT -5
Tintin: Les cigares du pharaonMy second Tintin after reading Le Lotus bleu last year or the year before, though Cigares is actually the earlier installment of the two, coming immediately before Lotus in the series. It was a lot of fun, and of course Hergé's ligne clair artwork is a joy to behold. I would say that Cigares felt a little more comical and perhaps less intricately plotted than Lotus, or my memory of it, at least. Still full of incident, intrigue, and excitement - the Tintin books read like adventure movies of the most enjoyable kind. My next Tintin will probably be L'ile Noir, but there are a few other things, classics and more recent books, I plan to read before getting to that one. Cigars of the Pharaoh is a really fun adventure, but I agree that the plotting of it is nowhere near as tight as The Blue Lotus. To be fair though, I consider the The Blue Lotus the first untouchably great Tintin story. Still, Cigars of the Pharaoh is no slouch. It's loads of fun...and in that respect, I tend to pair it together in my mind with the preceding tale Tintin in America. I love all the Egyptian parts of the story and, although it lacks focus when the story relocates to India, it's still a lot of fun. The Black Island is one of my absolute favourite Tintin adventures, as it's set in England. It was re-drawn and modernised in the mid-60s, I believe, and that's the version that has been in print since then. The "new" artwork is very, very good and highly detailed. Having grown up in the '70s, the English cars, roads and countryside scenes depicted in The Black Island are very familiar to me, in a hazy, nostalgic way. *sigh*...I really should think about re-starting my Tintin review thread from the old Comic Book Resources forum. It's currently entombed on a broken hard drive, but I think I've found a way to recover it. I've just been too lazy to get around to doing it. But I really should think about re-starting that review thread over here.
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